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Lauren Bailey

Yelp AI Review Insights for Restaurants and Service Businesses

Yelp is about to do for local small businesses what TripAdvisor did for travel and tourism, nearly 25 years ago. Read on to learn more!



5 plastic stars lined up by a finger and a thumb. The blog title is yelp AI review insights for Restaurants and Service businesses. Yelp Logo. Bailey Business Support Logo.

Yelp just got smarter! In their latest EOY release, Yelp announced AI powered Review Insights The feature is like a super-powered magnifying glass, zooming in on the exact things your customers love (and... maybe not so much 😣).

A screenshot of the iOS Yelp App showing the new insights panel available to users
Source: Yelp Product Launch Blog

Why is this a big deal for you?

As a small business owner/marketer, this free piece of user-centered technology comes with its own set of perks for the business:


  • Know Your Customers Better: Ever wondered what your customers really care about? This AI can tell you! Yelp’s AI Insight tool allows you to add another layer of social listening to your marketing strategy.

  • Boost Your Online Reputation: By knowing what keywords and tags make your customers happy, you can encourage more positive reviews, by incorporating those keywords and phrases in your own marketing copy. 

  • Target Your Marketing: Use these insights to create marketing campaigns that really speak to your audience, and their personal preferences.


In essence: It's about aligning your messaging with the things that customers already appreciate about your business. This creates a positive feedback loop, where your communication encourages positive reviews, which further enhances your reputation.


How to Use Yelp AI Review Insights for Social Listening:

Social listening is your marketing super power, gone are the days of paying for focus groups to inform your next strategy. Here's a really shallow-dive into how to leverage insights in real-life:


  1. Spy on Your Reviews: Dive into your reviews and see what words and phrases pop up. Pop the kettle/coffee pot on and make a quarterly appointment to check in with your yelp reviews.

  2. Level Up Your Marketing: Sprinkle these magic words into your website, social media, and email campaigns. Have you considered carousel testimonials? Promo reels and stories? What about featured reviews in a customer newsletter?

  3. Train. Your. Team.: The feedback that is publicly available to you is a goldmine of constructive criticism and tells you what parts of your marketing strategy are working, and which ones, decidedly, are not. Want some examples?

Want "local ingredients" to trend as one of your top review points? Introduce the products and highlight the features you are most proud of. The more you talk about it, the more the customers will repeat it in their reviews.


See a specific item getting name-checked in reviews?

Make sure your team mentions this when customers ask for recommendations. Your employees are not your customers, so their recommendations are sometimes biased to what makes the biggest % tip, rather than a genuine recommendation. Misrepresenting "popular" products creates a trust disconnect. Customers are more likely to be turned off by a recommendation for the most expensive item available when there are alternatives that are generally more popular and less expensive. It’s a high-risk, high-reward strategy that can ultimately reduce repeat custom even if the initial pay out is higher.


Wait time gets a bad rap:

Try implementing better pacing or work on other operational issues that may be causing these delays. If they are unavoidable, try and make them a pleasant experience, to at least reduce the number of customers getting irritated enough to mention it in a review. {NOTE: I highly recommend the book "Purple Goldfish" for some great pinch point remedies for wait times!}

You get the picture! 😉


This sounds familiar… Where have I seen review insights before?


Good spot! You might notice this feature looks strikingly similar to the extremely powerful review system used in TripAdvisor. 


A screenshot of the tripadvisor popular mentions feature which yelp is mirroring
The #1 Restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA has some really good potato chips.

TripAdvisor has long been the go-to platform for reviews in the travel and hospitality industry, offering a similar depth of customer sentiment analysis. The arrival of Yelp's AI Insights levels the playing field, providing businesses across various sectors with the same powerful tools to understand and leverage customer feedback.


Where can I use Yelp AI Review Insights?

Are you ready to figure out how to make AI Insights work for you? Review Insights is currently available for restaurant, nightlife and food businesses on iOS right now! Android customers & reviewers will have access to the feature at “some time” in the future.


Will Yelp AI Review Insights be available for service businesses?

The platform will be rolling out the feature to service businesses in 2025, in the meantime, you can still use this handy guide as a way to use your Yelp reviews to help improve your marketing strategy.



Ready to unlock the power of customer insights and elevate your business? 



Explore how our expertise can help you harness the potential of Yelp AI Review Insights

and many other MarketingOps tools to drive success.


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